Study Abroad instead other summer opportunities?

[medhopefull]

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Hi, I'm currently a college freshman and was planning to do a study abroad program in Japan during spring quarter of my sophomore year or fall of my junior. But, the thing is that both of the options run into the summer (spring: early april to late july; fall: late july to early august), making it hard for me to do other worthwhile summer things?

Which do you think would be more worth doing: the study abroad or possible research/internship programs?

 

[jochi1543]

What program/university are you going with? The dates sound painfully familiar to my program back in the days.

 

[pinkblue]

I spent most of my summers studying abroad. If I was gone for half the summer, I'd spend the other half auditing a class I was interested in but didnt have time to take, or volunteering somewhere. You can always volunteer from July-August when you get back/ before you leave.

 

[Dendrite]

Some schools don't place an immense emphasis on research experience for premeds.

The one thing I regret most from these four years is not taking the advantage of spending a summer abroad (at least for one semester). You can also do research afterwards or the following Fall/Spring.

 

[sunnyskies]

I did two study abroads. They were the best experiences of my life! If you are more interested in travel than research, go do it! (Plus, uh every pre med does research, go do something you want to do!)

 

[medhopefull]

Great! Thanks for the advice!
And Jochi, I'm doing the EAP program through the UC system.

 

[jochi1543]

Great! Thanks for the advice!
And Jochi, I'm doing the EAP program through the UC system.

Oh, ok, I went with CIEE.

 

[qtpai]

Study abroad. I am very research heavy, but if I had my **** together earlier, I certainly would have studied abroad my first summer.

Bear in mind that you can also do research or volunteer abroad. Part of the reason I am going to Mexico this winter is to orient myself to the culture and explore opportunities for public health research and international work in the future. Something to think about.

 

[kami333]

Another vote for study abroad. You'll love it in Japan (I'm Japanese😉).

Research can be done at any time any place, to study abroad you actually have to go abroad and as you get older it's harder and harder to do so due to various commitments and responsibilities. Plus with research and internships usually the more background you have the more you get out of it.

Just don't do what I did and love the country so much that you decide to work abroad for a while (in my case it was Denmark)😛

Also you can spend some time in Japan learning about the Japanese healthcare system and how it compares to the US system, might be something that you can talk about in interviews and set yourself apart.

 

[onslaught61]

Great! Thanks for the advice!
And Jochi, I'm doing the EAP program through the UC system.

hey hopefull, just curious, where do you go? I go to UCSD and currently a sophomore in hopes of travelling abroad sometime junior year, preferably fall as well. And I also want to go to Japan like crazy!

 

[theserbatron]

the lessons i learned travelling, to me, were much more useful in my overall outlook on life and learning than research was. research was great for teaching me research methods, experimental design, and teaching me how to interact with professors and communicate with them effectively.

also remember that many people hold off on going into medicine for a few years and get research experience after they graduate. having a full-time research associate position at a major university after i graduated, IMO, was more beneficial than my undergraduate research. you'll have a real opportunity there to publish and learn, one summer in undergrad won't teach you as much as 1-2 years full-time.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

I have done 1 study abroad and signed up for another one next summer- I highly recommend it! Honestly though- check with your school and see if they have any other ones that would fit your schedule better. My school has ones ranging from 1 week to a full year out of the country- I did a humanities one already and am doing a science one this year... check out all your options- we actually have 15 different science study abroad programs this year!

 

[kami333]

This is the study abroad progam I did link (and worked at, lol). The Human Health and Disease was very cool and unique, it's like anatomy from a clinical approach and a component of it is taking patient histories and diagnosing them (they are actual patients that the doc teaching the class has who volunteer to come in).

 

[beachblonde]

I studied abroad one summer and did research the other two during college. The experience that taught me the most about life, myself, and the world (not to mention the most fun!) was the summer I spent in Europe.

You can do research later, definitely go abroad while you still can. And if you're really looking for a challenge, travel by yourself for a while. Backpacking alone in Europe is one of my favorite memories, period.